Urban Outfitters never stops, do they? Latest in a maniacally-paced output of exciting indie-designer collabs, the chain store has paired with Corpus to create slick, grungy looks for fall.
Bringing indie fashion to the enmalled masses, the ByCorpus line
features chunky knits, covetable leather bombers, and of course,
plaid??”lots of it. Even more exciting are the denim looks the designers
have created??”acid splashed skinnies and worn washes make for something
special, not to mention affordable, to slip into.

Speaking to the U.O. blog,
designers Jerrod Cornish and Keith Richardson describe their aesthetic
as being "darker, more urban environment [with] a little bit of an
Americana feel," but that their new collection is "a lot of fun??¦more
youthful." However you describe it, we’ll be taking one of everything.

Available at Bergdorf Goodman: 754 5th Ave, between 57th and 58th; 212.753.7300???

Favorite wardrobe items quickly become victims of their own popularity — if you don’t believe that, then why is your junk even now languishing on your Aeron? For gear designed to last, try Mottainai.

A Bklyn-based debut collection with an emphasis on durability, Mottainai’s Japanese for “what a waste” — an admonishment against more shoddily-made apparel, and how you feel about a day spent replacing blown-out pants. Sturdiness is sourced from both premium Euro materials (stretch-resistant Northern Italian shirting, tough Portuguese jersey slub), and all-organic Japanese denim that’s been sewn “double-faced”, so it’s basically two-ply (the quicker knicker picker upper). The finished products are vaguely militaristic, mostly done up in subdued blues/grays/browns, with pieces ranging from jeans, to cashmere sweaters, to stonewashed supima cotton sport jackets and trousers, to the four-front-pocketed Pria Hoody, made from the cotton/nylon blend Cordura — scuff-resistant material originally used in WWII-era blade sheaths, because if some Nazi called out the faux pas of your scuffed sheath, you’d just die.

Mottainai also emphasizes eco-consciousness all the way down to their natural plant and vegetable dyes — doing their part to keep the Earth from becoming a giant, gross ball languishing on the fabric of the universe.

John Varvatos has AMAZING suits, jackets, belts, jeans, shoes, bags and much much more on sale for a fraction of the original retail price (and we all know how pricey his line is). I bought a pair of the JV for Converse white skinny studded jeans for $30 (originally $225) and super soft tank with sequins for $15 (originally $145)! Limited women’s wear, so RUN, don’t walk! The super sale is going on TODAY and ending TOMORROW!

Intermix, one of my long-time fave places to spend some major Benjamins — LOVE this store — has some fantastic designer goods that they are practically giving away at their warehouse sale! It will be mayhem so wear something that you can try clothes under or over…the communal fitting room gets jam packed!

John Varvatos:
Clothing, shoes, and accessories from John Varvatos are up to 75 percent off.
When: Through 8/23; Thurs.??“Fri. (8??“7:30), Sat. (10??“5).
Where: 260 Fifth Ave., nr. 28th St.

Recently, while shopping at Veronica M — one of my favorite Los Angeles-based boutiques — I received a tip from a fellow shopper about an up-and-coming Stylista type she knew, who was known to tell her friends what needed to be thrown out of their closets. Such boldness! Based on her favorite pieces and jeans (pictured below), I can definitely see the Leighton Meester and Audrey Hepburn in her.

Cristina Echemendia, 20, of Los Angeles. She has agreed to open up her jeans closet and show off a couple of favorite fashion pairings. Ooh, do I spy a Juicy Couture jacket in that slide show?

What is your career aspiration?
I want to transfer to a Fashion Merchandising program. (She’s currently attending Glendale College.) Fashion is my
passion. I worked at Abercrombie and Fitch as a model (sales floor)
while in High School.

What have you been doing lately?
I love to travel; my favorite cities are Florence and Milan, Italy. I traveled to New York this past year for the first time and I was
hooked instantly. I had my Tiffany’s moment and was introduced to
Bergdorf Goodman (WOW what a store).

Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
Graduating from school. I want to work in the entertainment industry as
a personal stylist or stylist for a fashion magazine. My goal is to
open my own store someday.

As men’s fashion magazines such as Details, Visionaire, Men’s Vogue, and a slew of other stellar men’s fashion magazines are breaking the waves and catching momentum, retail sales numbers show that men’s fashion has surpassed women’s this past season. So, let’s hear it for the boys and talk about some great denim brands that have broken ground with the gents.

YMC
The collaboration of Fraser Moss and Jimmy Collins, YMC was established in 1995 in London. Over the past decade, the brand has developed into a full lifestyle label with a cult following to show for it. Their selvedge denim is the standout of the brand. Constructed of premium raw Japanese denim and a style that looks vintage with a new era twist, YMC jeans are sure to be a great addition to any guy’s wardrobe.
Available at: www.endclothing.co.uk or www.john-anthony.com
For more information and availability, go to www.youmustcreate.com.

Huffer
The New Zealand sportswear label Huffer, founded in 1997 by Dan Buckley and Steve Bunstan, has seamlessly defined the founders’ backgrounds in extreme sports to a range of clean, laid-back separates, with a kiwi sense of humour. With a fresh take on skater and snow-boarder chic, Huffer has infused their aesthetics for the love of the sports into their Spring 2009 collection with the emphasis on stretch fabrics. Check out their relaxed Beam jean and their take on the skinny in the Slip jean.
Huffer’s online shop will launch in November. For a list of retailers go to: http://www.hufferstore.com

Little fashionistas and stud muffins can now get some LOVE for their closets. Greenwich, Connecticut-based LOVE children’s boutique just released their new LOVE IS Organic Denim, especially made for the youth of today! The folks at LOVE should be proud of their new children’s denim line. Their attention to details, such as no itchy tags or bothersome grommets, and its softness and natural ingredients used in the processing, shows their dedication to their young, upscale clientele with discerning tastes. First opened in 2006, founders Katie Stein and Kristin Fine went through the trouble of making sure they weren’t churning out just any organic denim line. LOVE is also “a lifestyle store created by two moms [Stein and Fine] — with seven children between them — who love great design.”

Besides jeans, the boutique carries an exclusive collection of clothing and tightly-edited stock of art work, unusual and special toys, accessories, Ducduc furniture and bedding. Check out their Robshaw bedding and Tamar Bird Cages. They believe children can appreciate good design, and it doesn’t have to come from Disney. Co-founder Kristin Fine carved out some time from her busy schedule to share a bit about her store.

“Jeans are the perfect kid clothing.”

The LOVE IS Organic Denim was born to honor what kids do best: play, create, imagine, run jump, grow. “Our jeans incorporate four essential elements: real kid comfort, genuinely wholesome organic ingredients, cuts kids will love and denim patches to extend the life of the jeans.” [Guess what, Denim Therapy can help preserve kids' jeans, too!]

Your stylish little ones will feel special in these eco-jeans, made especially for them. “Jeans are the perfect kid clothing. The problem was in what was available as a retailer. Almost all the jean lines were shrunken down adult styles and brands, with absolutely no respect or tailoring for kids! The more we looked the more frustrated we got — the fit was terrible, the fabric was scratchy and filled with toxins — and kids couldnaˆ™t be kids!”

LOVE’s Core Denim Line
(All of them are 100% organic denim and available all year.)

Rock - the boys jean.

Acorn – the baby jean.

Whistle – a mini skirt.

Gumdrop – a standard fit with a kick at the bottom of the leg.

Pencil – a long very lean girls jean.

Just how organic are their jeans? The LOVE IS Organic Denim are made in India from a Certified Fair Trade Factory, and impressively, the 100% certified organic cotton, after weaving and dyeing, are again certified organic. The jeans are washed in starch and enzymes, because they are “eco-friendly as well as energy saving and totally biodegradable.” Parents know how important natural ingredients are, when it comes to anything touching their children’s delicate skin. “One of the biggest issues in the organic world right now is educating the consumer on the difference between organic cotton which is then dyed and bleached and manufactured with toxins, and 100% organic denim which is processed with only organic enzymes, processes and dyes,” says Fine.

Beyond their retail environment, LOVE conducts workshops to connect with their community. Earlier this year, they held a workshop with The Kitchen Cabinet folks, “which was about ways to improve the quality of eating with our children.”

[Side note: Is this my pseudo Gilmore Girls shopping in Stars Hollow fantasy coming to life, even though the fictional town was a suburb of Hartford?]

LOVE Boutique Forecast: Spring 2009

Sparkle – a white denim Capri.

Button – a chambray dress.

Butterfly – a straight jean with glitter butterflies.

Dirt – a loose, worn-in jean for boys with a spider below the back pocket.

Pebble – a pull-on light chambray for boys or girls.

If you have the chance, drop by their charming boutique! They just put up the new organic denim line out on their storefront window (pictured).

The organic denim market is not about to shrivel back into obscurity: the LOVE boutique is busy getting their orders out. If you’re nowhere near Greenwich, Connecticut, fret not. You can now get your kids some LOVE online here.

Old McFarmer had a cow and chickens and pigs, but for sure he owned a pair of denim jeans (most likely overalls), but wouldn’t he have been proud to own a pair of Farmer jeans?

Farmer jeans are cultivated with modern progressive lines and vintage overtones to give you that naturally worn in look. Their products have color coded rags, signature characteristics, and no visible labels, which make their jeans distinctively ???farmer.” Farmer’s no bones mantra of traditional indigo denim and tough as nails construction will have you feeling as if you found them in a flea market, so old school.

Farmer jeans is an eco-friendly company. At Farmer they focus on waste free hardware, reclaimed pocket lining, on the floor thread, and deadstock denim fabric or organic fabric. Once a year Farmer searches for limited, special deadstock denim and produces jeans specifically designed to progress the development of society. Proceeds from Farmer’s sale of their limited runs are dedicated to youth development. Staying true to their eco-culture, there are no contrived washes and the jeans are made completely chemical free.

So give it a moo-moo here and a moo-moo there…Farmer jeans are something to ee-ai O’ver!

Shopbop has just updated their Web site with a few denim fit video guides. Hosted by the lovely Morgan Wendelborn, Shopbop’s Style Director, you will learn more about True Religion jeans than you thought you wanted to know (and watch Wendelborn’s hairstyle dramatically change in each video!). They’ve just posted their new J Brand Denim Fit Guide to YouTube, although the video won’t be available on their Shopbop site until Thursday. You get to see your favorite models in action, which is a refreshing departure from seeing the static catalog images on their online shop. I suspect future online shops will be more live action than 99% of e-commerce sites today.

Also available for your viewing pleasure is their Fall Denim Trends video. Shopbop forecasts dark wash, gray, black and distressed jeans for the fall. On the trend watch horizon are also fine details, such as intricate embroidery on the back pockets (e.g. Siwy Jeans), pintucks along the length of the legs (7 for All Mankind’s Superflare with Pintuck) and the riding pant look (Unknown Factory Skinny with Knee Inserts). The boyfriend jeans are obvious new style headliners.

Lately, the new denim trend is a variety of different coated denims. Whether it be waxed, high-gloss or waterproof coating, with so many denim styles to choose from it could definitely send a denim junkie into an overdose frenzy!

Alexander Wang, the fashion darling to the unconventional young and rebellious fashionistas and CFDA inductee (check him out in Vanity Fair), has his Storm denim, taking the fashion world by storm! Let’s just begin with the fact that the jeans are simple, sexy and rock star gorgeous! Wang has been working with Cotton Incorporated on this new denim finish called STORM DENIM(TM). This water-repellent finish looks and feels exactly the same as non-treated denim, but protects the wearer against the elements. Storm has become a reality in Wang’s Fall 2008 collection and denim will never be the same again!

Stella McCartney, Karl Lagerfeld, and Sass & Bide have all contributed to the cote d’azur trend! Not quite like the French Riviera, but they’ll be sure to make your denim world a little more glam and glossy.

Katie Holmes, one-half of the TomKat paparazzi feeding frenzy duo, has been going tomboy on us. Sporting the new pixie cut, Katie is seen in New York City going to her All My Sons rehearsals in various baggy, peg leg boyfriend jeans. The PRPS jeans she stole from hubby Tom Cruise looks pretty cool, but not on her! They are too baggy and are unflattering to her hips. Careful!

Swap jeans with your male BFF, but watch out for excess bagginess! With dudes still walking around town wearing tight leg strangle-hold jeans these days, you may as well just swap your skinnies for your buddy’s regular fits and get yourself some instant boyfriend jeans action. And, if you’re not into borrowing someone else’s denims, try snagging a pair of unisex jeans from denim brands such as April 77 or Nudie Jeans. I still can’t picture myself going back to peg legs (again, grimace-inducing memories of bad 80s fashions), but I can dig the boyfriend jeans look!

Us non-celebrity types can get that tomboy look just as easily. Have fun with these boyfriend jeans options for different rolled, peg leg, or cuffed jeans looks.

Keep it slim and trim throughout with these raw jeans. Roll ‘em tight around the ankles. Any height shoes will do. This is great for that school girl preppy look. Pair this with a Dohlman sleeve top or elbow length cardigan.
Loose Cuff Look

Current/Elliott Elephant Bell in Loved Wash. Available online at Singer22.

Cuff or roll these jeans at the ankles and slide on some stilettos. Throw on a loose-fitting slinky top, and you’re ready to rock the boyfriend look for a night out on the town. The dark wash and sanding creates a three-dimensional, slimmer appearance. These Current/Elliott jeans will give your legs a blouson look, as it’s wider at the bottom for more freedom of movement, even when cuffed. It’s a feminine touch.